BANGOR – Even though the Presque Isle girls basketball team beat MDI twice in the regular season, the Wildcats sensed they’d see something different from the Trojans as the teams met in an Eastern Maine Class B semifinal Wednesday night.

MDI did throw something different at Presque Isle, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome of their third meeting. No. 1 Presque Isle earned another win over No. 4 MDI, this time posting a 46-35 victory at the Bangor Auditorium.

The 19-1 Wildcats gained a berth in Saturday afternoon’s Eastern Maine final, where they will face No. 7 John Bapst of Bangor. Both teams will be seeking their first Eastern Maine Class B titles.

Senior point guard Katie Delong led Presque Isle with 16 points and nine rebounds just a few hours after she was named a finalist for the Miss Maine Basketball award.

The Wildcats outscored the Trojans 106-50 in two regular season games, but Presque Isle wasn’t taking MDI for granted.

“It’s really hard to beat a good team three times and we knew we had to come out and play really tough,” Delong said.

With the big scoring disparity in mind, PI coach Jeff Hudson prepared his team for a zone defense instead of man, which MDI had played earlier

His instinct paid off as the Trojans came out in a 3-2 zone.

“We knew it was going to be zone so we’ve been practicing against the zone, and it ended up working out,” Porter said.

Presque Isle went 4-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half. Senior Kylan Smith hit three 3-pointers and freshman Sarah Porter hit another.

“That was the thing we talked about early, was taking that away,” MDI coach Chip Taylor said. “In the second half I thought we did a better job, but it was too late.”

Smith finished with 11 points, as did junior center Angela Norsworthy, who benefited on the baseline from the Wildcats’ perimeter shooting.

Presque Isle’s man-to-man defense forced MDI into a scoring drought at the end of the third quarter.

“I thought our defense was stifling at times,” Hudson said.

The Trojans, already depleted by injuries, got more bad news this week. Starting guard Ashley Young sprained her right foot this week and did not play Wednesday, which left MDI with four backups. Starting guard Lindsay Lewis also spent time on the bench in foul trouble.

WILDCATS 46, TROJANS 35

MDI (16-4) Presque Isle (19-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Records 2 6 0 0 4 Cash 0 0 0

Banks 2 2 0 0 4 Michaud 0 0 0

Lewis 5 7 0 0 10 Porter 1 3 4

Orman 2 4 0 0 4 Clukey 0 0 0

K. Vaux 2 6 2 2 6 Delong 5 15 16

Falt 2 11 1 2 5 Glovins 0 0 0 0

M. Vaux 0 0 0 0 0 Smith 4 9 11

Ross 0 0 0 0 0 Watnncht 0 0 0

Lemoine 1 1 0 0 2 Morris 2 6 4

Moody 0 0 0 0

Nrswrthy 4 6 11

Braley 0 0 0 0

Totals 16 37 3 4 35 16 39 10 16 46

MDI 6 14 22 35

Presque Isle 12 28 36 46

3-pt. goals – MDI (0-3): Orman 0-1, Records 0-2; Presque Isle (4-13): Smith 3-7, Porter 1-3, Delong 0-3